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PICK OF THE WEEK

Opening This Week

Poll Question

What under-the-radar new release are you most interested in seeing? Bratz! Daddy Day Camp Rocket Science Skinwalkers Stardust Two Days in Paris Who's Your Caddy? I'm just counting the days till Superbad... Current Results

Other sites we like:

NEW THIS WEEK

The Bourne Ultimatum by Stephen Goetz "Ultimatum throws us right into the action of the film, and it doesn't let up at all throughout."

The Simpsons Movie by Kevin Feather "It may be worth seeing in the theaters if you have a coupon, or if you can get a discount, but largely I would suggest that when it comes out on video, grab a bunch of friends, and all sit down together to watch the hilarity ensue."

John Wayne Retrospective: Stagecoach by Christopher Collier "Capitalizing on the conventions that had been put in place, Ford’s brilliant film both ignites and re-imagines the genre..."

THE WEEKLY RANT

August 10, 2007

Is any one else excited that Neil Gaiman is finally on the big screen?

Ok, I've watched the Stardust trailers, and I will admidt I am both excited and terrified. It looks like the films is either going to be a decent adaptation or is going to fall apart. But, whatever happens, I am just exicted that Neil Gaiman, master of modern mytho-fairy-tale, fantasty is getting his big screen break. I am not sure how many people caught Mirror Mask when it came out, but since it was such a limited release, I am not counting it. I know there are many who thought it was not great and that it did not show what 21st Century effects could so (Shane...), but I loved seeing Dave McKean's art on screen and moving about. What can I say, I love Neil Gaiman, and I am really excited about Stardust.

For those of you who have never heard of it, Stardust is the story of a man who promises to bring back his girlfriend a fallen star and to do so crosses into a fantasty world to go capture it. For those of you thinking this sounds like a cross between M. Night's piss-poor fairytales and Disney style adventure, well, I guess it could go down that road and that is what I am really holding out against. The book is fantastic and I am hoping that with DeNiro and Pfiffer involved there might be some quality acting. I do know that if they keep to Gaiman's story, the twisted dark fairytale could prove to be a great summer hit and add some excitement to what I gotta say has not been a really thrilling movie year.

In other news, I now have a Netflix account. So, you can blame Kevin for finally giving me full access to an unlimited slew of classic films that I have cursed the cattle-like staff of Blockbuster and their horrible selection for not stocking. So, between my overly pretensious queue and the great films that the Ambler Theater is getting, I will be gorging myself on foreign, silent, and award-winning classics that I have been wanting to watch for YEARS. I have a couple of things in the wings that will be coming to the CRFA shortly: Eisenstein's Battleship Potemptkin, Renoir's The Rules of the Game, and Ruttman's Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, but following these, I am going to be arranging some short marathons.

Following the John Wayne Retrospective, which I am currently working on for the CRFA and will culminate with the following films: The Flying Leathernecks, Red River, The Cowboys, Chisum, The Quiet Man, and Donovan's Reef, I will be putting together a great director's marathon, which will have four segments focusing on Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Scorsese. I will be starting with Bergman in tribute to his passing and the great mark he has made in the world of cinema. So, check in soon as I hope to finish the Wayne marathon this month. Feel free to join me in exploring these brilliant directors and help me pick which films I should watch.

Ok, now that I have gone on about movies I am excited to see, I wanna point out some that you should catch. All three films we reviewed this week come highly recommended (well, Kevin has only given Simpsons two stars, but I think it was great and strongly recommend it). So, if it is raining where you are or you wanna get out of the summer heat, make your way to your closest theater and make sure to catch the newest of theBourne films (which Steve loved), see Simpsons and let us know if you agree or disagree with Kevin, or drop by the video story and pick up a John Wayne film and let us know your thoughts on The Duke.

Till next week...

~Chris

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Last Week´s Poll Question

Following the opening of The Bourne Ultimatum we asked Which Damon character would you most want to be? and here’s what you answered with a clear winner at 44% that Matt Damon from Team America was who you wanted to be. This was followed closely by Dogma's Loki (22%), and then Bourne, Ripley, and Will Hunting (all 11%). There was no love for his Ocean's character Linus (zero votes) though...Make sure to vote this week and toss in your opinions on our message boards.

COMING SOON

• Stardust
• Battleship Potemkin
• The Rules of the Game
• Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
• John Wayne Retrospective: The Flying Leathernecks
• John Wayne Retrospective: The Quiet Man
• Feature Article: On Second Thought: Getting to the bottom of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil and Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain.